1. Field
One embodiment of the invention relates to an electronic apparatus which executes close proximity wireless transfer, and a communication state notification function control method applied to the electronic apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, wireless communication such as NFC (Near Field Communication) has begun to be used in IC cards, mobile phones, etc. A user can easily execute communication for an authentication process, a billing and settlement process, etc., simply by performing an operation of holding the IC card or mobile phone over a reader/writer module of a host apparatus.
Recently, a new close proximity wireless transfer technology which enables communication at higher speed has begun to be developed. This new close proximity wireless transfer technology realizes not only providing authentication and billing and settlement services but also exchanging data files including text data, video data and audio data between devices simply by bringing the devices close to each other.
The time required for wireless communication for authentication services, etc. is only a moment (e.g. several seconds at most). However, when transferring data such as a large-capacity file by close proximity wireless transfer, the time required for wireless communication becomes relatively long. For example, depending on the data size of a data file, a communication time of several-ten seconds or several minutes may be required to transfer the data file.
Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2004-22139 discloses an electronic apparatus set in which the playback of content by a first electronic apparatus is stopped and the playback of the content by a second electronic apparatus is started when the first electronic apparatus such as a portable audio player is brought close to the second electronic apparatus such as a stationary player. If a user comes close to the second electronic apparatus while the user is viewing/listening to content by the first electronic apparatus, the playback of the content is automatically switched from the first electronic apparatus to the second electronic apparatus, and the user can continue to view/listen to the content without performing a time-consuming operation.
In the meantime, in the close proximity wireless transfer, it is necessary that the devices be kept in a close proximity state during communication. If the user erroneously moves the device apart during communication such as content data transfer, the connection between the devices is released, and the transfer fails. In order to prevent an erroneous operation by the user during communication, it is necessary to provide the devices with a function of notifying the user of the state of communication or switching of communication.
However, as described above, since the close proximity wireless transfer is executed in the close proximity state of devices, notification outputs from both devices overlap if both devices respectively notify the user of the communication state. Owing to the overlap of notification outputs, it is possible that the user cannot correctly be notified of the communication state. It is necessary, therefore, to realize novel function for adjusting the communication state notification function between the devices.